Rathclarish

On flat terrain sloping gently to the NW in reclaimed pasture. A large, roughly oval enclosure (diam. c. 70-100m N-S) which has been levelled c. 30 years ago but is visible as a low rise, best defined along the N and W edges by scarp (Wth c. 3m; H 0.32m). A band of lush grass (Wth c. 2.6m) at the base of the rise in the W quadrant may indicate the presence of a former fosse. The 2nd (1906) ed. OS 6-inch map indicates a spring rising in the interior, with a stream flowing NW from the spring. According to local information fragments of quern stones were found as the monument was being bulldozed and these were reburied. There is an annotated sketch plan of this ringfort in the Fogarty Manuscript (1851) in the National Folklore Collection which shows an inner ’fosse or trench 10 ft [c. 3m] deep’ and an outer fosse on the E side, described as a ‘trench fosse up to ten feet deep’, as well as a ‘spring water course [?] deep & trenches fence at each side’ running through the centre of the monument from N to S. On the same page of the manuscript there is an illustration of a boulder with rock art [TS079-052----] which was, ‘dug out of a motte or forth on the NW side of the pass of Rathclarish about 200 yards [c. 180m] distant from the latter rath’. It is not clear, but the ‘motte or forth’, may refer to ‘Rathclarish’ ringfort or to an enclosure (TS079-009----) in the NW portion of the townland of Rathclaris which is indicated on the 1906 ed. OS 6-inch map but has since been levelled. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 21 March 2023